


mileaus and settings

by nimodes



Category: HERO Champions, miscellaneous - Fandom
Genre: Concepts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-20
Updated: 2014-07-20
Packaged: 2018-02-09 16:36:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1990008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nimodes/pseuds/nimodes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>concepts for stories, settings for games, and shared worlds for exploration.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chessmen/Singularity

 

Campaign Name: Chessmen  
Campaign Type: Heroic/Singularity  
Background: Modern Earth  
Originally Used: Champions game system

It was called the Day of Madness or a number of similar names. Everyone remembered the day the sky changed colors, the display lasting for an hour. The event occurred at the same time simultaneously all over the world. In the places where night had fallen, it was especially noticeable that the sky was glowing.

Though it is usually recorded as one hour, the more exacting people will tell you it lasted one hour and seventeen seconds. It stopped everywhere at the same time, just as it had started.

The effects were obvious to many, bearing physical changes at the moment the time ran out. The extent took a few days though as people tried to come to terms with it all.

One in ten people became a Gifted, often with a minor physical change to indicate they'd been affected. People calling it a Mark or Scar started almost immediately as well.

One in ten Gifted was actually a Talent. (Alternatively, one in a hundred people have a Talent. So in a city like New York City with 8.3 million people, 833,770 will be Gifted and there would be 83,377 Talented. Most of which would be minor things like a cold-resistance that has little practical use.)

One in a thousand Talents was a Super. (Alternatively, out of the general population, one in a hundred-thousand has some super-power or set of related lower-level Talents. So, again using New York City as a high-population example, NYC would have a staggering 83 Super-level characters.)

One in a thousand Supers was a Cape, a high-powered superhero or supervillain in terms of ability. (Still using New York City's 8.3 million population, eight of them have powers and abilities above the Super level. So, one in a million people qualify as a Cape level.)

Of the total population, one in a hundred million was something above a cape. Ultra was the most common term thrown about. This means that with the United States population at 300 million, there would be three Ultras.)

Gifted might have something obvious like cat ears, but it was more likely to be something like seeing an extra color or having perfect pitch or having distance vision be just a little better at something than they were before.

Talents were something else. Something less standard. Being able to locate water, or track things psychically. Seeing perfectly in the dark, faster than normal healing, or something along those lines.

Supers were like Talents only more so. And Capes more even than Supers. Ultras? Everyone is glad that Ultras are as rare as they are. Ultras rearrange the landscape.

* * *

This was originally (around 1980 or so) a Champions campaign i worked out over at White Heron Games in Virginia, and originally called "The Chessmen" - which referred to the setting being a game started by two Sufficiently Advanced Aliens who were basically mucking up civilizations as part of a continued rivalry with bets being placed and called. That civilizations had burned because of previous games was just indication that human morality had no place in their contests.

Time frame for the Event should be some point in the near future, though having a Victorian-era or Wild West variant has also proven to have some amusement value.

As Champions was/is a point-based game system, the base points indicated how much a particular character had to play with.

A Gifted was mostly NPCs, a regular human with 10 points extra that could be spent on Skills or minor powers.

GIFTED EXAMPLE: When the Event occurred, Jamal Raschid was a taxi driver in New York City. Suddenly finding himself able to breathe water and with skin that puts out a water-resistant oil, he spends a few days thinking about it before deciding he'll keep his day job and just conceal the gills on his chest.

GIFTED EXAMPLE: Ed decides he wants his character to fly. As Flight is a major power, he ends up able to learn Piloting and has a bonus to that skill.

GIFTED MEDIA EXAMPLES: Most Morlocks from the old X-Men comics, a number of action heroes if you figure they've got some minor Reinforcement ability.

A Talent was a normal human with 25 points, at least half of which were spent on powers.

TALENT EXAMPLE: Lisa decides to have a character's family member develop a Talent. She decides that her character is married, with a husband and one son who will be the Talent. In game terms, she goes with +3 to Intelligence, and plunks the remainder of the points into a form of X-Ray Vision limited to finding faults and flaws in machines. The son can now simply look over a machine and find out why it isn't working. His eyes glow slightly when using this so his Talent status is obvious, though the sheer utility of this ability may overcome any prejudice towards him.

TALENT EXAMPLE: Ed's Flight character at Talent level actually has this as a Power and can fly about twice running speed. Not able to fly faster than a car, but never needing a ladder again.

TALENT MEDIA EXAMPLES: Any of the mutants from X-Men whose abilities are below that necessary to actually become an X-Man could fit into the Talent category.

Supers were the main group of player characters. Base human with 50 points extra for powers and abilities beyond normal men. Appropriate disadvantages to pay for extra points.

SUPER EXAMPLE: Monique has powers related to wood. There has to be a natural source of wood nearby, but she can cause it to burst out into rapid growth and form uncomplicated shapes with it like snares and barriers and chairs. She decides to go the Mercenary route - using her powers to generate income by crafting wood products.

SUPER EXAMPLE: Ed's character puts points in Flight, but adds a forcefield that protects him from injury so that if he runs into a bird at full speed it won't break bones. With the Flight power upgraded at this level he's now going faster than a car on the interstate and can commute without worrying about gas prices.

SUPERS IN THE MEDIA: Most Marvel superheroes and villains would fit into this category. From DC: Hawkgirl and a number of the backup heroes you normally see only in teams.

Capes would indicate experienced or especially powerful characters. Base human, plus one hundred points.

CAPE EXAMPLE: Heidi came out of the Event with a set of powers relating to air. She can form concussive blasts, fly, and generate shield or walls of swirling air to defend herself with. Heidi joins a Rescue Team operation that forms up, assisting local police/fire/ambulance services when emergencies occur.

CAPE EXAMPLES IN MEDIA: Higher level Marvel heroes like many of the Avengers or Defenders. Most Justice League "heavies" would also fit into the Cape power level.

Ultras were often to be used as the Big Bad or the Deus Ex Machina, depending on which one was needed at a given point. One hundred points fifty points extra plus disadvantages. Most will have at least a couple of psych disadvantages, developing over the first year if not having it to start with.

ULTRA EXAMPLE: Ed sinks most of the points into Flight and abilities around the flight. Ed can now fly at transcontinental speeds and go FTL outside the atmosphere. Ed leaves Earth to explore the stars.

ULTRA EXAMPLE: Damien Thornegate was sitting in a prison in the United Kingdom when the Event occurred. Now one of the most powerful telepaths in Europe, he mostly uses those powers to control and manage the mundanes nearby as the Red King.

ULTRAS IN MEDIA: Darkseid, Thanos, the Collector, Braniac, anyone from Krypton, etc.

* * *

Originally developed as a campaign setting for Champions (point based superhero RPG) back around 1980. It was intended for beginning players, variable power level, and to be part of a setting where the players would actually have an impact on the society around them.

In comics, there seems to be a rule that the status quo is never really upset. In this setting, actions and decisions could have consequences.

The one-in-ten progressive was originally put forth to remove the isolation factor seen in comics like "X-Men" where most people would have to rely on news sources or gossip for an example of a mutant - and the bias becoming entrenched as a result. With one in ten having some minor change, not always concealable, practically everyone would know someone who'd been Changed. While the ones with great power would be much rarer.

The original group i ran with this had nobody go the Hero Route (using their powers solely to benefit others, fighting Villains, doing good deeds simply to be doing them). Four players decided to go Mercenary Route (using their powers to enhance their lifestyle while remaining within the society's legal framework) primarily by using their powers to enhance a new profession choice. One went Villain Route, using his power of Force Field to try and hold up banks.

The mileau had some possibilities to explore, but it's been three decades since the last time I played Champions, over a decade since the last time I played in any RPG that doesn't have MMO on the label.

And yes, i am aware that someone posted the basics elsewhere.

So, if you can use it - give me cred for the idea please and send me a link because I'm really curious as to what someone else can do with this concept. 


	2. Xanadu Reloaded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> incomplete, wanted to get this up before SDCC 2014.  
> Updating the Xanadu setting, adding bits for the would be writer.

 

AUTHOR NOTE/FORWARD:  
Brian Derkson originally created Xanadu. My introduction to it was with Ed Becerra's "Liquid Courage" and Robert Haynie's "The Prince of All Sayajin" - where i was included as a character in both works. Hence my own contribution up on fanfiction net.

The stories, as near as i can tell, are only easily accessed at a site called "Shifti" dot org, and some of them are definitely NSFW.

When i was writing my own take on my character's fate, i realized that the series had become a bit dated. The site added them in 2009 but they were all written around 2001 if i recall.

Would Ed have used that version of Iron Man if he'd seen the movies? i lost most of my Son Goku costume in a flight to a convention back in 2004 or so, along with the rest of that bag of luggage. Since then, well, i haven't aged well either.

Also, 'Kubla Con' in Orlando was supposed to be fictional. There IS however a convention with that name in California. So why not use a REAL convention and just say this occurs at this convention in this year and update it every decade or two? Explore how the world is changed, how lives are changed or lost, how society and life and those changed and those not changed deal with it all.

So, either San Diego Comic Con in 2014, or maybe DragonCon?

Not to mention that technology itself has changed. Since 2001, the internet has become even more entrenched in lives. Twitter accounts can ruin lives or make them, and even influence elections. People can catch video footage on their cellphones and upload them to news organizations or personal blogs. Drones have gone from military observers to weapon platforms to privately owned toys and spy machines. In another ten years, who knows what'll be mainstream in the tech world?

So the idea of a remake with updating caught my imagination and i came up with a backstory to explain the HOW - which i don't think was ever really covered. The other option was to use Toltiir, an elder god of mischief who doesn't really understand much about humans other than they seem to be very fragile.

And no, referring to Robert's story - i really don't hate Akane Tendo. Admittedly, i handled the death threats/insults/virus attachments/spamlistings and other attacks from the individuals of the Fan Fiction Mailing List in a very poor way. And then when i was talking about trying to use the same tactics, i discovered that you can't beat people like that at their own game because they are much more experienced and the one i was speaking to turned out to be a facade used by one of those very people. i only bring this up because Robert brings up my regrettable behavior in that period of time (mid-90s i think) in his own story "Prince Of All Saiyan."

So this - a sort of illegitimate stepchild of that Xanadu setting and stories - where the stories themselves are referenced as a "Xanadu Event" by various others. Whether those stories get repeated, that is up to other authors who might run with this.

* * *

_Age Of Miracles:_  
The air moved as it was displaced, a solid body appearing where there hadn't been one previously.

He stood tall and heavyset, though the full extent of the last was mostly hidden by the hooded robes he wore. Unfashionable, or perhaps fashionable in an earlier era than his present day, the robes were of a single shade of red with trim decorated in a deep purple.

He tsked once as he left the circle, then lifted a small club from a desk and tapped the metal gong next to it.

"Hethras. It is unusual for me to have visitors," said a stooped over figure about half the size of the new arrival.

"Laram," acknowledged Hethras. "Your message was ridiculed by the majority openly. Privately, they are all checking your figures. Several of them are already trying to make plans. What purpose was your message other than to stir up the volru nest?"

"It is the moral decision to give warning when others may die without knowing of the danger," said Laram. "Though admittedly, it might have been kinder to not say a thing and let them die in ignorance when it all comes down."

Hethras hesitated before conjuring a chair. "So. A time of no magic."

"Our world orbits around the sun, the sun orbits through the galaxy, the galaxy orbits through its own pattern," said Laram. "I have determined that our magic, the fields that nourish such things, is actually access to a folded-space."

"Yes, these things are all well known and documented now," agreed Hethras. "Your determination of mana flow was over a century ago. Prior to that, we simply worked invocations without considering where the energy came from. Still, these conclusions."

"Access is possible due to a variation in local space/time," said Laram, sitting back on his own conjured chair. "When our orbit through the galactic space reaches a certain point, there will be a sudden cutoff of magical access. Cities will fall. Barriers crumple."

"How long would such a thing last?" asked Hethras.

"Roughly ten thousand years," said Laram.

"Our civilization has only existed a few hundred years," complained Hethras. "How could we survive a length of time like that?"

"Without access to magic, many who do not perish immediately will starve," said Laram. "However, I have devised a work-around."

"How can you work around ten thousand years?" asked Hethras.

"Carefully," said Laram. "I've mapped out the return of magic, and it'll require a pressure-relief about two hundred years before things come back in full. Otherwise too much too fast."

"Oh, the Barhel Threshold?" asked Hethras.

"You know about that?" asked Laram.

"Hey, everyone back home is researching everything regarding all this, trying to prove you wrong." Hethras ran a hand across his balding head. "Damn it's hot out here. Yeah. So what can I do to help?"

* * *

_Paris, France. 1982._

"-found this in a cave complex in Siberia back around 1979."

"Which one?"

"Denisova Cave I believe. I did a bit of work here and there back then. Mainly manual labor while the Professors all dithered about."

"It's a raven mask?"

"The thing that makes this most remarkable is that our dating techniques show that the wood carvings to indicate feathers were added relatively recently. Perhaps forty-two thousand years ago."

"If that's recent - how old is the rest of it?"

"The carved stone there in the center that gives the impression of a beak? Best guess is Mousterian - perhaps three hundred thousand years ago. However, at least one test brought back a result of Oldowan. So - a million or so years old."

"You don't know for certain?"

"If I had it tested through official means and agencies - what are the odds I'd be able to keep it. Much less sell it?"

* * *

_Now -1 year:_

"Look, it's a chance to show this off before I go donating it to a museum and it collects dust until even the dust has historic value."

"Something that potentially valuable at a  scifi convention?"

"Right. Besides - I don't know what it is, but something about it just feels like it was meant to be worn."

* * *

_Convention Start -6 months:_

"I don't understand your cosplay fetish."

"It's not a 'fetish' - in modern parlance that would indicate something sexual involved. Therefore this is not a fetish. A hobby, yes. A fascination, yes. While some people don't regard it as an art, some do."

"Whatever."

"There's cash prizes at this one, so there will probably be some pretty good ones this time around. Not that there isn't usually."

"How much?"

"Ten thousand for first prize."

"Good... lord."

"You're an atheist."

"It's an expression. Really? That much money for some halloween costume?"

"Look it up online and see if you think those costumes come off a rack at Wal-mart."

* * *

_Convention, Day One_

"That was weird," said Heidi, shaking her hand.

"Yeah, everyone's complaining about it," said one of the staffers as he handed her the name badge. "Some people say they can even smell ozone."

"Storm or something?" asked Heidi, looking out one of the big windows nearby and seeing just blue skies and a few fluffy clouds.

"Nah," said the staffer. "Probably something to do with the Wi-Fi or something. They're checking around but it's just a few sparks every so often. Next!"

Heidi nodded, wondering who 'they' were. Environmental Services, what used to be called maintenance? Information Technology? Whatever. She hadn't even expected to be able to attend this convention and a few sparks that had sprung up from her hand touching the badge wasn't going to detract from her enjoyment.

"Ooooh," said Heidi as she spotted a cart bearing a bunch of plushy Pern fire-lizards heading towards the Dealer Room.

* * *

"Damn, that's twice," said Ed, blowing on his fingers.

"No, these were green sparks," said Robert. "The last ones were purple."

"That's weird," noted Ed. "Storm of some kind coming in."

"Weather forecast said 'no chance'," pointed out Robert.

"But it feels like one, like there's a front going through or something," noted Ed.

"Could be worse, could be raining," said Robert.

"It's too early in the con to be quoting 'Young Frankenstein' at me," protested Ed.

"It's never too early," said Robert. "See you. I'm up on the sixth floor."

* * *

"Any sign of what's causing it?" asked the guy handing out badges.

"It's REALLY weird," said the other staffer, setting a fresh water bottle down. "Some people are saying they feel like a storm front is moving through - you know how you get that kinda pressure feel?"

"Nah. All it ever does to me is get my allergies going," answered the badgeman. "I keep seeing it in these crowds. Had two get sparks from getting their badges - and that's rigid plastic. Shouldn't build static up on that at all."

"Yeah, well, they thought it might be a problem with the Wi-Fi earlier, then they thought it might be one of the news people covering the con had some satellite problem or bad connection," the staffer said with a slight shrug. "As soon as we have an excuse that'll last an hour - we'll make up fliers with that. Last theory I heard was that it was some problem in the wiring in one of the nearby buildings. We're just unlucky enough to be in the EM field or something."

"Hopefully it doesn't wipe anyone's credit card or something, I've heard of that happening," said the badge-desk staffer.

"Just take it easy, tell 'em they're working on it if anyone asks, keep everyone moving. Looks like even bigger attendance than last year."

* * *

"We're going with a bit of a difference in this year's Maid Cafe," said Yvonne, standing before the con attendees who'd signed up for this activity. "We've got some pretty good makeup and cosplay experts to assist and we'll be doing various moe-archetypes."

"Like the 'ninja maid'?" asked Celeste. "That's fairly common in series like 'The Secret Of Haruka Nogizaka' and so on."

"Yes, 'ninja maid' is one of the more common ones," said Yvonne with a nod. "Loli maid, tsundere, we'll avoid the yandere because that's REALLY a small demographic, likewise the 'trap maid' tends to be a little less well received in real life as opposed to a manga."

"Catgirl maid?" asked Debbie.

"Yes, that's fairly common as well," admitted Yvonne.

"Great, I got the gun from 'UFO Princess Valkyrie'," said Debbie. "I was planning on going as Sanada from that series for the dance event."

"Then that works out for you," agreed Yvonne. "Anyone who doesn't have a preference, I've put down a number of the tropes involved and we can random draw for those."

* * *

"First time?"

"At this convention, yes. Conventions in general - no."

There was an awkward pause.

"Doctor Fate?"

"Yeah. Dumbledore?"

"Christopher Lee actually."

"Well, I was going to ask why the guitar."

"He's actually done heavy metal. Plus I have a light saber here."

"...So you're cosplaying an actor who plays heavy metal and has been Dracula, in Star Wars, Lord of The Rings, and a few dozen other movies."

"It allows me to be eclectic."

* * *

Heidi checked her costume.

Long red hair wig, check.  
Black leggings, check.  
Black t-shirt, check.  
Headband, check.  
Plastic chain, check.  
Green "flak" vest, check.  
Fingerless leather gloves, check.

Okay, the plastic chain was done more in the style of Shun's Nebula Chain from " _Saint Saeya_ " than her character's chakra chains but she'd been able to get it cheap. Important when your budget was barely clearing the cost of the convention. Nonetheless, Heidi felt she had a pretty good "Kushina Uzumaki" from the "Naruto" franchise. Considering it was a shonen series, going as someone more in her own age group was a plus.

Getting from her hotel room to the convention was fairly easy. If there hadn't been other cosplayers around, she would have gotten a few odd looks. When someone could stare at a full Iron Man suit, or someone dressed as a Cyberman from "Doctor Who", or someone dressed as the Slenderman of all things - her costume wasn't nearly so attention-getting.

Getting through the revolving door, too much crowd at the sliding one, and nearly falling over on the second step was certainly unexpected.

"Everyone, the management is getting the AC cranked up a bit," said someone in a steampunkish-looking costume. A quick glance confirmed the "Staff" badge, so someone set up here in case of accidents.

"It's a bit stuffy," said someone else who'd stumbled next to her.

Heidi turned enough to make out the costume and determined that this was someone who had NOT read "Rostler's Rules" for cosplay.

"Oh good. I thought I was getting migraine aura," said another vaguely steampunk cosplayer.

"Kushina Uzumaki doesn't normally have a pokeball," said another someone as he passed her.

She had a reply for that. "Can you think of a better place to keep a ninetails?"

No indication that the critic heard that, though a snort from the migraine sufferer indicated that she hadn't wandered into a humor-free zone. Getting through the crowds to the lobby was a bit tough, though she had to admit at least HER costume wasn't difficult to manuever around in. Which was one of the major considerations. That guy in a dragon costume was having trouble getting anywhere.

"Kinda like what you'd expect the Bazaar at Deva to be like," said a female Jedi Knight nearby. "The things. The people. The things that are also people."

"Not familiar with that," admitted Heidi.

"Myth-Adventures series by Asprin, old comedy fantasy series," said the steampunker, tipping his aviator helmet as he passed them and headed towards the Dealer's Room.

Where to go first though, that was the question. Still a few hours before the first Masquerade event.

* * *

The connection and the power had been built for millenia.

The mask had passed through many hands all to be at this time, this place.

Things had been glimpsed through time, but not really understood. Because the future was so uncertain, it had been made to adjust things as that future changed.

Paradimensional echoes was to be the mechanism. Symbolism, like calling to like. Pressure would be relieved, and the way would be paved. Civilization might fall, but something would survive.

Not truly sentient, the mask waited for the right time - discharging minor amounts of the "dark energy" into the environment. The effect would cushion the burst, allowing it to be contained.

Soon the wait would be over.

* * *

She saw the mask, saw it crumple, and felt it as if something had just shot past and through and around her.

It reminded her of a something from a Douglas Adams novel, something about how it felt to be drunk - if one was a glass of water.

It also felt as if she were in a tug of war.

_I am Megan Sutton._

_I am Meian Sunon._

_I am a student._

_I am a Jedi Knight._

Screams cut through the mental dialogue. There was the guy dressed as Slenderman she'd seen earlier. Except the tentacles were moving on their own and one arm lengthened and shifted and claws were slashing through a Joker.

_What the hell?! What's going on?!_

_Settle this later. Now is a time for action._

She moved, the competing voices in her head merging into one. Leaping up and over the crowd, lightsaber drawn and ignited in the same swift move. What appeared to be razor-tipped tentacle met Jedi weapon and lost.

_Fast,_ realized Megan/Meian. _He lost the battle of souls, no compromise reached._

Tentacles stabbed out, lightsaber flashed, slicing and severing the things as they approached.

Electronic sounds. Han Solo was there, blaster firing green bolts that seemed to do no damage to the creature.

Then someone in an odd uniform was there in the line of fire. "Everyone calm down! Stop it! There's no need to-"

A single tentacle from the abomination went through the peacemaker's chest, then flung him aside like a broken ragdoll before lunging towards her.

Extensive training came to the fore, the lightsaber dipping back and to the side.

A large hammer slammed into the creature, breaking its stride. A wedge-shaped throwing blade imbedded into a knee.

That was enough of an opening. Megan swept forward, her lightsaber a blur as she swept through the sword kata of Falcon Splits The Wind. The creature fell in three pieces, dissolving as it landed.

Heaving a deep breath, Megan went into a ready stance as she looked around.

"What the hell just happened?" asked a female Thor, her hammer having already returned to her.

"A good question," said Megan, banishing her own confusion and doubts to embrace the calm that all true Jedi sought. "That one became entirely what he was costumed as."

"That's insane," said a catgirl, her shoulder wound being tended by someone with glowing hands.

"My Goddess, it's like that Xanadu story, everyone's become their costumes," said the female Thor, hefting her hammer. "I am Thordra, daughter of Thor. But I'm also - not."

Iron Man gave a distrustful look towards the Joker, who spread his hands and tried to look innocent. "Everyone remain calm. Try to remember who you were before things went nuts."

"I don't remember anything before this. Why don't I remember anything?!" said a beginning-to-panic Draco Malfoy.

"In the original story," mused Thordra, obviously trying to remember, "there were those who remembered who they were. Others who didn't remember anything but the lives of their characters. And then there were - oh Hel and Loki. The zombies!"

Megan frowned at the thought of a zombie apocalypse breaking out from the convention. IF they could infect others. "Anyone capable of rounding them up without taking the chance of getting bitten?"

Even the Joker held up a hand, reaching inside his jacket to pull out what looked like a squirtgun.

"You with us then?" asked Iron Man of the Joker.

"There's a difference between being crazy, and being THAT crazy," said the Joker. "Zombie apocalypse on the TV - good clean fun. Zombie apocalypse on the streets? Not good, not clean, not fun."

"The maid cafe?" asked Thordra. "Maybe it's not the whole convention?"

"I might be crazy," said the Joker, "but I'm not taking THAT bet."

"I can put out chakra chains," said a woman with long red hair, picking up the throwing knife from earlier. "We need to be able to tell which ones have lost their identity and which ones can be reasoned with. You're a Jedi, can you sense that?"

"Yes," said Megan. "May the Force be with us."

* * *

[Rebooting...]  
[Reboot complete.]  
[Cannot Recover Previous Save Data.]  
[All Systems: Active.]

[Warning: Power Level 15%.]  
[Recommend: Initiate Rest Mode.]

[Warning: Environmental Alert.]  
[Warning: Multiple Energy Signatures classified Omega-level threats.]  
[Warning: Multiple Enemies Detected.]  
[Initiating Defense Mode.]

She flicked her eyes open even as her other sensory systems began the process of analyzing the environment and cataloging dangers.

[Mobile Assistance Intelligence Device 04 Active.]  
[M.A.I.D. 411 "Rei" active.]  
[Organic Units Present - 17 Maids. 6 Other.]  
[9 Nonhumans Present. 4 Nonhumans ID as Maids.]  
[Considerable agitation noted in organic units.]  
[Enemy presence outside cafe structure detected.]  
[Analyzing...]  
[Identified: Enemy known as Magneto. Mutant. Magnetic Powers.]  
[Suggestion: Avoid.]  
[Identified: Enemy known as Riddler. Villain unit associated with Hero unit known as Batman.]  
[Suggestion: Subdue if behavior turns aggressive.]  
[Identified: Enemy known as Zombie. 4 Units exhibiting aggressive behavior.]  
[Suggestion: If proximity narrows, use full offensive capability to defend living organic units.]

[Update: Zombie units attacking organic units. Unacceptable.]  
[Preparing Countermeasures.]

* * *

"I am Kushina Uzumaki. Sort of."

"Hi, Kushina. I'm Megan. Who is sort of channelling the Jedi Knight Meian Sunon."

"Heidi, and it gets confusing."

"Thordra of Asgard. Also Carol Fletcher of Topeka. Also very confused."

"On that," said Megan. "We can all agree."

"Not all," said Thordra. "It's like those Xanadu stories. Some people remember everything of their previous lives and coming to the convention. Some people don't remember anything but being in character. Look at that one knight over there - he's trying to figure out how to use a water cooler."

"Here they come. Looks like they fit into that 'lost in character' category. Some of them don't even have the brains to SAY 'brains'," said Kushina.

"They're avoiding us and heading for the Heavy," stated Megan. "I'm not sure if that qualifies as intelligent or not."

_Ka-ZZAP!_

"And the steampunk brigade starts throwing out attacks," noted Thordra, twirling her hammer into a silvery blur. "Did they forget we're just to contain them?"

* * *

SETTING RULES:

These are the same setting rules given out at Shifti dot org slash wiki slash Xanadu_(setting), just summarized here.

1\. People become what their costume represents to them at the time of the Event. So a costumer playing a "human sized Godzilla" would stay human-sized. A costumer thinking of themselves AS Godzilla would start out human-sized but eventually grow into the role.

2\. Quantum reflections influenced by the mindset of the cosplayer, so if someone really knows their Jedi lore - they could be a much more effective Jedi than someone who'd just seen the movies once. However, as they are templated off that quantum or other-dimensional reflection effect, someone doesn't have to have extensive knowledge of horses or human anatomy to be a centaur and have all the fiddly bits work.

3\. The physical/mental/magical effect of the Event is instant. However, for the sake of the story, some effects (such as mass) take a bit longer to develop. The aforementioned Godzilla would require several days to attain full kaiju size.

4\. No transformations or scenes should be written that require other authors to include the event in their own stories. Some events can be pretty much taken for granted. The Vendor/Dealer Room WILL be a madhouse. Most conventions nowadays seem to have some kind of "Zombie Walk" or other event scheduled. There are frequently "maid cafes" and the like at any convention with a large amount of anime or manga fans present. Nobody with any sense after a Xanadu Event should try to read a copy of the Necromicon at a Vendor table, but you know SOMEONE would fail their Wisdom Check. Godzilla will slink away to the ocean, there to attain kaiju size and eventually show up - most likely in Tokyo. But the convention itself shouldn't be overwhelmed until after the three days for the Mass Exodus to occur.

5\. The transformation happened over the entire convention center, extending out to nearby hotels. Most mundanes would get slightly dizzy and then go about their lives without any differences - unless they happened to be on drugs or thinking something odd at the time. Most of the changed individuals should be costumers, cosplayers, and other attendees.

6\. There are no hard-and-fast rules regarding the changes to a partially costumed. Likewise, parts of a costume are real and functional but only as effective as they are reputed to be. Stormtrooper rifles are notoriously hard to aim except at unmoving and very big targets like that Jawa Crawler in the first movie. If a Stormtrooper loses the laser rifle, they probably won't be able to make a new replacement.

7\. There ARE methods for dealing with changes that fit into the "can't live like this" category, though some might be worse than the disease depending on your personal squick categories. One of the maids in the maid cafe, for example, is depicted as having Sanada's raygun from "UFO Princess Valkyrie" - which turns girls struck by it into catgirl maids. Which is probably better than being a vampire or zombie, your mileage may vary on that. There's at least one wizard who can probably turn targets into elves or hobbits or something along those lines as well and at least one steampunk/magitek cleric who can try to Remove Curse or Cure Disease on individuals. However, as with any such cure - that's at the end of a questline especially after the Mass Exodus.

8\. Mental changes depend on how much into character the individual was at the time of the Event. The person wearing a mouse-mask might turn into a humanoid mouse, mentally and physically into a mouse with no recollection of being human, a cartoon-style anthro mouse-sized mouse, a mouse-looking mouse that retains human intelligence and can speak, and so on. In the examples in the story bit above: Heidi/kushina and Megan/meian are mostly who they were prior to the Event, but with some memories of being these other identities and how to use their special abilities. Thordra/carol is about 50/50. M.A.I.D. unit Rei is 100% Rei without memories of her prior existence.

9\. In some cases, the clothing makes the role. A Maid will usually be wearing the maid uniform, with the exception of sleepwear/swimwear and other specialized clothing (there ARE precedents in the various series which feature ninja-maids and the like) so that compulsory wearing of the uniform or transformation of non-appropriate clothing to the uniform are both possibilities.

10\. No destroying the world please. Other people like to write too.

11\. If you have any doubt about something while writing, consider the two questions the original setting asked. Will this 1) Help the plot? 2) Will this not cause problems for others writing in the setting? If yes to both questions, it's probably okay.

THE EXODUS:

After the first day, there's an attempted lock-down by the local government. At that point, enough people escape that a real lock-down is mobilized. Due to various problems and disbelief, it takes a full three days for it. As the news agencies film the lock-down taking place, and the containment procedures - there is a Mass Exodus. Some remain behind, everyone else hits the panic button or slinks quietly away.

What happens next? Oh, that's up to you. Happy writing.


End file.
